The North Korean Special Operation Force (NKSO) attempted to assissinate the South Korean president in 1968 and attempted to burrow their way into South Korea. They are highly trained despite their public failures.

It is estimated that North Korea has collected some 4,100 tanks, 6,500 artillery guns, 2,500 rocket launchers and over 1,000 aircrafts, but you can sleep well at night. Most of the aircraft are grounded because of fuel supply constraints and the tanks and guns have not been properly maintained and would break down in prolonged combat conditions.

They have a policy of “Songun” requires military spending to exceed all other aspects of government. No one knows what the exact percentage is but estimates have ranged from as high as 38% of the total budget to as low as 15.8%.

One of the sillier threats made by North Korea, in 2013 a photo was release showing lines of soldiers strapped to backpacks with the international symbol for radiation attached.

The takeaway being that these men had nuclear weapons strapped to them and we ready to go out into the world and attack. Though it is not believed that North Korea has atomic weapons capable of fitting into a backpack, these were probably just for show and to create the reaction that it did.

North Korea has claimed publicly that they have enough artillery pieces pointed at the South to turn Seoul into rubble.

While it’s true that South Korea would have no initial defense to an attack it is entirely implausible that the city would be pounded into gravel before South Korea retaliated and took out the guns. It is also estimated that due to improper care, 1/4 of the shells fired at Seoul would not detonate upon impact.